From clicks to bricks, Cinch heads to the High Street with its first four dealerships

E-commerce firm Cinch is to launch a physical used car dealership strategy after selling more than 200,000 cars online.

Cinch was launched back in July 2019 as a rival to Auto Trader, offering car retailers another online marketing platform on which to promote their stock for sale.

It then went on to retail its own stock which triggered anger and debate across the sector with what was branded a “below the radar” launch of a direct-to-consumer car retail offering promising home delivery and a 14-day money back guarantee.

Cinch, which is owned by Constellation Automotive Group that also owns automotive brands including WeBuyAnyCar, BCA, cinch, and Marshall Motor Group, will now launch its first stores in Northampton, Birmingham, Bristol, and Manchester during July and August.

Additional locations are planned to open later in the year in other regions, some will be in showrooms vacated by franchised dealers as car manufacturers such as Ford, Honda, Renault Group and Stellantis reduce the size of their retail networks. 

Since launch Cinch has rivalled the now collapsed car retailer Cazoo, which racked up millions of pounds of debt building its brand. Cazoo also started as a pure online car dealer before acquiring Imperial Car Supermarkets to instantly establish a network of customer handover locations.

These new Cince used car dealerships will feature a wide range of used cars from Cinch's stock of over 5,000 vehicles with visitors able to ‘see, touch, and test drive’ cars, and receive helps from an in-store team called the Cinch Squad.

All vehicles will be offered at a fixed price which is checked daily to guarantee the same price as online buyers.

Additionally, every car will come with a 14-day money-back guarantee and a free 90-day warranty.

The business said its new showrooms will expand Cinch’s post-sale support network and fully integrate with Cinch’s digital platform, simplifying the processes of buying, part-exchanging, and financing vehicles.

Customers who purchase a car in-store will follow the same online journey as all Cinch customers, completing their purchase on its website.

Home delivery or collection from a local point will be offered and customers will have year-round access to 24/7 UK-based customer service teams.

Robert Bridge (pictured), Cinch's chief customer officer, said: "We’re now in our fourth successful year of growth in our online business - it's the perfect time to deliver an omnichannel experience and open our first physical stores to reach even more UK car buyers with our faff-free approach."

"Thousands of drivers across the UK have bought from us already using our fully online sales model, and now we're looking forward to meeting some of those existing customers in person and welcoming new customers through our doors for the first time."